


Control-Alt-Delete

by rustyliver



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Avengers AU, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 18:07:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13980585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rustyliver/pseuds/rustyliver
Summary: ...it doesn't surprise her when her clothes start to rip apart and all the morons who refused to listen to her scream.It puts a whole different meaning to 'you're at an age when your body is changing'.





	Control-Alt-Delete

When Aubrey was five, she walked in on her dad with a gun in his mouth. He didn't see her, so he pulled the trigger without knowing that his little girl was about to see his head explode.

Except she didn't.

The big guy saved his life.

Unlike her dad, the big guy noticed Aubrey immediately.

"It tickles," he said after spitting the bullet out of his mouth. "Wanna try?"

Aubrey didn't know better. She couldn't tell apart between the Hulk and her father. So she took the gun from the big green monster and bit into the barrel of the gun.

Bang.

That didn't happen either.

Her father managed to wake himself up (or he put the Hulk down to sleep) and smiling nervously, he blocked the trigger from Aubrey's little finger. That was the first time he, not the Hulk, smiled at her.

They both knew what she really is. The Hulk wanted to show it to her and her dad wanted to hide it from her.

 

.

 

She knows, knew, it too.

So it doesn't surprise her when her clothes start to rip apart and all the morons who refused to listen to her scream.

It puts a whole different meaning to 'you're at an age when your body is changing'.

She is still herself but not.

She is aware of chasing Bumper out into the hallway, smashing into chairs and walls and lockers to get to him, but she doesn't understand why. On normal days, the thought of even speaking to Bumper nauseate her. He is an obnoxious boy who isn't worth her time. But then she remembers seventh grade. She wrote him a love note with some poem about roses and violets and how he colored the world pink, and he did what every adolescent boy would do; he photocopied the note and shared it with the whole school.

Now, he makes her see red, and she really wants to share the view with him.

 

.

 

Chloe tries to stop her.

She jumps on Aubrey, probably an attempt to tackle her down, but Chloe only ends up crashing into the wall. Bumper takes this small window of opportunity to hide.

On normal days, Aubrey would have no trouble finding him.

But today isn't a normal day, and neither are the days to come.

Her dad once said, "If at first you don't succeed, pack your bags."

What he really means is, if there ever comes a time when he fails to control himself, then he has no choice but to leave her.

Chloe is pleading her name, trying to call her out.

But this is her, just angrier than usual.

She lifts Chloe up by the neck.

(She's so light. So small. So breakable.)

And she wonders if she squeezes Chloe's neck just a little bit more, will she have to leave?

Everything turns pitch black before she can find out.

 

...

 

When she wakes up in her room, her dad is sitting at the foot of her bed.

"Aren't you proud?" she says without meaning to. Obviously. Because she would never say something like that to her father. She is the obedient daughter of Bruce Banner, the one good thing he's ever done in his life.

But he isn't looking at her with the pride and joy he usually wears around her. Hell, Aubrey will take disappointment if those aren't available.

No, he's looking at her with guilt.

She hangs her head in shame. "I'm sorry."

She knows it will only make him feel worse. No one ever gets an apology for something that is their fault, and that is what he's thinking; that this is his fault. But this is new to her, and she has yet to learn to handle it with her usual poise.

She'd let him shoulder all the blame if she could, but she still remembers the fear in Chloe's eyes; how they slowly closed as she tightened her grip on her best friend's neck.

"How's Chloe?" she asks, careful to show just the right amount of concern so her dad won't feel guiltier than he already is.

"She's going to be okay."

 _Going_ , meaning she's not okay now.

"I want to see her."

Her dad shifts uncomfortably.

"I don't think that's a good idea, honey."

She nods quietly. He only has to say it once.

She is Bruce Banner's daughter before she is Chloe Rogers' best friend.

 

...

 

On Monday, Luke picks her up from her house. He gives up all pretenses of being a normal high school student, not that he tried really hard at it. His boss must have given him an earful for tranquilizing Aubrey a little later than he should. So now, he's not taking any chances.

Aubrey doesn't protest to the chauffeur service. It's the only way that her dad would let her out of the house, and she really needs to go to school. She needs to know how Chloe is. Her dad doesn't say anything except, "She's going to be fine", and the Rogers aren't taking her calls.

The only way she can find out is by asking Jesse, or Beca Stark, but she prefers Jesse. She and Stark don't get along.

 

.

 

At school, people part for her like the Red Sea, even the teachers.

Some idiot yells, "Nice rack!" And the hallway grows eerily quiet. They wait for Aubrey to turn. Some even have their phones held up in case The Hulk's daughter decides to make an appearance. But it takes more than that to sink her to that level.

She scans the crowd for Jesse, but he is nowhere to be found.

 

.

 

Lunchtime comes and she still can't find him. She checks the school register and it turns out Jesse hasn't gone to school since Aubrey's episode.

That means she has no choice but to speak to Stark.

 

.

 

Stark always sits alone even though she doesn't have to.

"Stark."

"Banner."

Her only friends are Jesse, Chloe and—

"Bumper."

They both stare at him blankly.

"What? I thought this is a game we're playing."

Aubrey ignores him. "I need to talk to you," she says to Stark.

Bumper whistles. "That's kinda cold to someone you tried to kill."

With one quirked eyebrow, Stark says, "You deserved it."

"Are you my friend or her friend?" Bumper asks with mocked hurt.

Stark snickers. "You're lucky it's just her. If her dad ever found out what you did—"

"Hey, I thought that poem was beautiful," Bumper grins at Aubrey. "That's why I shared it. I didn't think—" he shrugs. "No hard feelings?"

Again, she ignores him. "How is she?"

Stark doesn't ask who she meant. She just says, "Terrible."

Terrible.

Stark doesn't explain further.

Which might be a good thing because Aubrey can feel her skin crawling. It's the other her. She wants to come out. Aubrey swallows as if it could push her back in, but she's still trying to crawl her way out. Aubrey takes the seat opposite Stark.

"Do I need to evacuate the building?" Stark asks coolly.

Bumper is already standing up with his tray.

Aubrey's breaths are becoming ragged. The deep breathing exercise she taught herself is not working.

Finally, she shuts her eyes hard. It's your fault! She scolds herself. So calm the fuck down!

Surprisingly, it works. Her breathing slows.

Stark still waits, holding her hand up. To Luke, probably.

"No," Aubrey blurts. "It's okay."

Stark shakes her head. Then she picks up her apple and bites into it like nothing happened.

Her good friend Bumper has already disappeared.

"Pudding?" she asks, pushing it towards Aubrey.

Aubrey takes the pudding. You would take a pudding from Beca Stark too if your body tried to grow twice its size in less than a minute.

She ignores the spoon and finishes the pudding in a swallow and a half.

Stark only watches, and when Aubrey eyes her half eaten sandwich, she pushes the whole tray towards Aubrey.

With her mouth full, Aubrey asks, "How bad?"

Stark ducks away from her spit and bits of food she sprays.

"I haven't seen you eat like this since like, ever," she comments.

"I think you mean ten years."

"You remember?"

"It's kinda hard to forget," Aubrey mutters, finally pausing from taking another bite. "You should remember it better than me."

Beca was the one who almost got killed.

 

...

 

She was five and Aubrey was seven.

The Rogers went away for an annual fun-in-the-sun trip, Mrs Stark had a conference in Geneva, and Mom was dead for two years that Saturday so naturally, Dad retreated into his favourite forest where he and the big guy can grieve by themselves.

(He has since switched his place of meditation that remains a mystery to even Aubrey after almost killing Bear Grylls and Nicki Minaj. Neither decided to press charges but in return, the big guy had to do an episode of Mr Grylls's show and make an appearance in one of Miss Minaj's music videos. No humans were harmed in either as dad feared and the big guy had the time of his life. He and Nicki Minaj are still good friends even now.)

It was just Beca and Aubrey, and Mr Stark who promised them an endless night of fun without grownups.

Aubrey was psyched. Mr Stark's parties were always so wild. There's usually an unlimited supply of candy, a Pixar movie marathon and no bed time.

It's a world's away from the Banner household, where everything was always too much.

Food. Play. Laughter. Words. Even tears.

Her father had spoken the word 'enough' all too often that it had become a sort of mantra to him.

She didn't understand it then, not until that fateful night.

She had crashed on Beca's king sized bed from all the sugar and excitement, and although there was ample amount of space left, Beca decided that Aubrey's stomach was the best place to lay her head.

Unlike Aubrey, Beca was used to the excess of everything and wasn't the least bit tired. She had shifted her body nineteen times when Aubrey finally held her head still and muttered, "Stop."

"Oh, you're awake," she said innocently.

Aubrey groaned, pushing Beca's head off her. "Go to sleep, Beca."

"But Chloe and Jesse always stay up with me until morning," Beca whined, this time settling her head against Aubrey's shoulder.

"So go call 'em or something," Aubrey murmured tiredly, turning away from Beca.

"It's not the same," Beca whispered, pulling on the back of Aubrey's shirt.

Beca was right. It was different without Jesse and Chloe. If they were around, Aubrey would have felt a little less happy and a little bit more left out.

It is no one's fault.

Both Chloe and Jesse adored Beca. Hell, even Aubrey did. Beca was small and cute and did stupidly adorable things that never failed to induce laughter in all of them. Aubrey just didn't have the sibling rivalry to compete for Beca's affection.

When they had a play date or a sleepover, Beca would always be the center of attention.

Aubrey would be at one corner trying to replicate the Battle of New York with LEGO blocks (the real one, not the one LEGO marketed), and Beca would take the whole room with her City of Doom where Chloe and Jesse would carefully build stuff and Beca would wreck them. They never got mad at her for it, but god forbid Aubrey took a piece she needed from them, then all hell would break loose.

That night, when it was just her and Beca, it felt so easy. No one was trying to dominate anyone's attention, so Aubrey didn't have to try so hard to shift the attention toward her. Beca would laugh whenever she made a joke and clap enthusiastically at whatever clever thing she came up with, even when it's not that impressive.

Then _it_ happened, and there was never a play date after that where there wasn't a SHIELD trained babysitter watching them. After some time they all grew out of play dates and LEGO, not because they grew up but because it's hard to have fun when you can't play hide-and-seek without getting a 20-minute interrogation beforehand.

"Don't change the subject, Stark," Aubrey snaps out of her trip down memory lane. "I need to know if Chloe is okay."

 

...

 

Chloe smiles despite the huge gash on her cheek and Aubrey breaks down.

"I'm sorry," she begs into Chloe's hand.

"It's okay," Chloe mutters weakly. "It wasn't you."

It only makes Aubrey cry harder because she's too afraid to tell Chloe that she's wrong.

Almost all of Chloe's body is wrapped up in some form of bandage, and if there's a part of her that isn't, it is marked with a yellowing bruise. Aubrey may have been greener and thrice the size she is now, but it was her. She did all of this. If she didn't, she wouldn't have remembered all of it so vividly.

But she can't admit it to Chloe because what if she does and Chloe flinches away from her?

What if she does and that ever present warmth in Chloe's eyes disappear?

What if she does and Chloe looks at her with fear instead?

She only lifts up her head when snot starts to drip out of her nose. She snorts in the mucus and wipes her eyes with her other hand. She can't let go of Chloe's hand. Their friendship feels so fragile at the moment and she thinks if she lets go, it will all fall apart.

Chloe squeezes her hand.

"Bree…" Chloe begins to say, but her oncoming words are drowned out by a loud bang followed by Beca's voice crying out, "Jesse, no!"

Then someone is roughly yanking the back of Aubrey's collar, dragging the chair beneath her half the way before she thinks of kicking it to the side, and pushes her against the wall.

Jesse pushes her elbow into Aubrey's throat, but the stabbing pain is nothing compared to the way her inside is ripping itself open to give way for the green monster.

"Jess—" she chokes out.

Beca tries to push him off Aubrey, but her arms, toned as they are to compensate for growing up with Captain America's children, can't compete with Jesse's steel stance.

When they were younger, Jesse and Chloe often pretended to lose to Beca in sparring matches. Even after Beca became aware of it and told them to stop, they would still do it because Beca kept getting up even though it would take her ten tries just to get off her ass.

But not today.

"Jesse, we're in a hospital," Beca tells Jesse, and Aubrey clutches that space between her chest and her gut like it can somehow plug up the black hole of rage that is about to consume her.

When Jesse wouldn't give, Beca turns to Aubrey.

"Aubrey," she says, smiling nervously. "Aubrey, you need to listen to me. Focus on my voice, okay?" Aubrey shifts her eyes toward Beca. "We're in a hospital. Three doors down, there's an eight year old kid, kind of a wise ass but a good kid. He just told me yesterday that they finally got him a kidney."

Aubrey tries her breathing exercise, but it's hard to breath in when your windpipe is blocked. She looks at Jesse with pleading eyes, but he has too much rage to even hear what Beca is saying.

"He's pretty psyched about his kidney," Beca says. "Says he won't have to come to the hospital too much and he can finally try out for the soccer team."

"You met him, remember?" Beca continues. "I took five bucks from him."

Aubrey remembers. The boy was waiting outside his room for Beca as they were heading toward Chloe's room. He held out five bucks to Beca as they passed and Beca happily snatched it away from his hand without even stopping.

"It makes you feel good, huh?" the boy had cried out behind them. "Taking money from a sick eight year old. Aren't you a millionaire?"

"Gazillionaire," Beca had corrected him. "But a bet's a bet—"

Aubrey can't remember his name.

"His name's Billy," Beca tells her.

"A bet's a bet, Billy," she had shouted back to the boy, then, noticing Aubrey's frown, whispered, "Calm down. I'm taking him and his whole class to Disney World next month. That costs way more than five bucks."

"It'd be a shame if he misses his class trip to Disney World," Beca says.

Aubrey closes her eyes and focuses on the little boy's face. Then she imagines standing over his mangled body, cold eyes staring back at her, and her other self shivers. That's good. She knows guilt.

But just as the green monster begins to retreat, she hears the loud crash of flesh and bones slamming against concrete. She opens her eyes and as soon as they fall on Beca's curled up body, the green monster growls, expelling all of her guilt.

"Jesse," Beca pleads weakly, "you're gonna drag her out."

"Let her come out," Jesse says, looking squarely into Aubrey's eyes.

"Jess—" Aubrey tries to cough out. "Please…"

"No," Jesse shakes his head. "What are you gonna do about it?"

The green monster digs Aubrey's nails into his arms. His jaws clench but he pushes back, crushing her windpipes harder. He snickers, "That all you got?"

The green monster screams and Aubrey's nails start to feel wet and sticky. She looks down and sees blood trickling out of Jesse's arm.

Veins start to pop out of his forehead, but he keeps smiling. He knows it'll just speed up the process.

"Jesse!" Beca yells. "People are going to get hurt."

"I can handle her!" Jesse stubbornly yells back.

Aubrey's vision starts to blur. She is losing control.

"Please…" she murmurs again, but her voice sounds so faraway.

She waits for her eyes to refocus again, waits for the inevitable rage that follows, but they don't refocus. It just gets darker. She breathes out a sigh of relief (she can breathe!). Someone must have pulled Jesse off her and knocked her out. That might explain why her head hurts.

Is it Luke? No, it can't be Luke because she and Beca locked him in the janitor's closet when he said no to visiting Chloe.

But maybe it _is_ Luke and they have really…underestimated…him.

 

.

 

When she comes to, she is on a hospital bed. Her vision is blurry but she's pretty sure that it isn't Luke who is standing over her.

"Uncle Steve," she mumbles as she tries to blink him into clarity.

"Aubrey," he replies in a gentle tone that twists harder at the knots in her stomach.

"I'm sorry," she expels her apology faster than she can think it. "I just really needed to know how Chloe is doing, and Jesse, he—"

"That's not your fault," the Captain says.

"I'm sorry," she says again because Jesse trying to prod the green monster out of her may not be her fault, but Chloe is.

Her vision steadies and she doesn't miss the disappointment in the Captain's face, but quickly, it changes into guilt. She has seen a lot of that all her life, so there's no mistaking it. Besides, the Captain always looks a person in the eye when he's talking to them, but he can't quite meet Aubrey's eyes.

"I had this friend," he begins. "It wasn't his fault either, but he hurt a lot of people."

He's talking about Bucky Barnes. Aubrey met Bucky Barnes once on Chloe and Jesse's sixth birthday. He didn't create much of an impression on Aubrey—he just stood by the grill and flipped and poked at the meats and buns, once in awhile smiling and nodding at people—but Aubrey was already familiar with his story by then, so when little Beca clung onto his shiny metal arm, Aubrey's heart almost stopped. He had flinched, and Aubrey was so sure that he would throw Beca into the hot grill.

Surprisingly, he didn't. He just lifted Beca up onto his shoulder and asked if Beca wanted to help him out with the burgers.

(About five seconds later, another adult approached him to whisper that maybe balancing a child on your shoulder while you're standing over fire isn't such a good idea.)

"But you made him better," Aubrey says.

"It took a long time," the Captain says. "It took a lot of sacrifice. Hell, it's still hard for me to admit it because I did it for my friend and I don't regret it one bit, but it almost destroyed me. I can't let that happen to my daughter."

Aubrey hears what he is saying, and she imagines worse things that can happen, but they keep losing out to losing Chloe.

"But she's my best friend."

She can't imagine not having Chloe in her life.

"You almost killed her, Aubrey," the Captain reminds her, his tone less commanding and more asking, like he needs a little help from Aubrey. Like he didn't imagine disappointing a little girl when he woke up this morning.

"What do you want me to do?" Aubrey asks, her voice breaking. "We go to the same school. Do you want me to just pretend she doesn't exist?"

"No," the Captain shakes his head. "You don't have to do that. We're moving to DC once Chloe is discharged."

"But…but," Aubrey stutters. "We're seniors! No school will accept a transfer this late into the year and if Jesse and Chloe don't go to school, they won't graduate!"

"That's all been taken care of."

"Uncle Steve," Aubrey pleads. "We're going to different colleges next year at opposite ends of the country. Just let me have these last few months with her. Then I promise I will never speak to her."

The Captain shakes his head solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Aubrey."

She waits five minutes before she follows the Captain out the door.

"Was it everything you wanted?" she hears on her first step out.

"Shut up, Stark," she says, not bothering to turn her head, and storms off towards Luke who is waiting by the nurse's station.

 

...

 

She was seven and Beca was five.

Beca had finally drifted off to sleep and Aubrey was beginning to. Or maybe she was already asleep because there was a faceless woman smiling down at her.

It was her mom. It's always her mom.

They have pictures of her in the house, but without looking at one, Aubrey can never recall her face.

She supposes it's the same case when she dreams.

"Hi, Aubrey," probably-Mom had said.

Aubrey just stared because well, what would you have done if you're faced with a faceless woman?

"Don't you miss me?" the woman asked when Aubrey didn't respond.

Aubrey shook her head, not because she didn't miss her mom because she did even though she had forgotten how her mom actually looked like, but because she wasn't sure who this faceless woman really was. You can't miss a person you don't know.

Maybe-mom started sobbing. "Why don't you miss me?"

Aubrey opened her mouth to explain but all that came out was a stuttering mess, "I…I…" and when no actual answer came, a strong gust of wind blew past Aubrey, almost knocking her down.

"ANSWER ME!" probably-oh-god-Aubrey-hoped-and-prayed-wasn't-mom's voice became gruffer.

"Who are you?" Aubrey finally blurted out.

Which was probably a bad idea because it got really hot very suddenly that Aubrey thought she was burning.

"YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER ME," the woman screamed as she glided towards Aubrey. She wasted no time in grabbing Aubrey's neck. "HOW COULD YOU NOT REMEMBER YOUR OWN MOTHER?"

Aubrey tried to apologize but all she managed to get out was a weak whimper. Tears started spilling out of her eyes—the only way she could plead for her life, but the woman kept squeezing harder. She grabbed the woman's arms, trying to pry them off her, but her arms were too small and too weak compared to a full grown woman.

Finally, the lack of oxygen became too much and everything turned black.

She honestly thought she died.

When she woke up, she wished she did.

The woman was gone. There was only Beca in her lap, bruised and bloody, and barely alive.

 

...

 

"If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?"

"I don't want to go anywhere. I just wanna be here for Chloe and not be scared of hurting her again."

"O-kay, but I bet I know a place that is almost as good."

.

Almost as good as Chloe is a doughnut shop.

"Seriously, Stark?"

Beca ignores her and orders a half dozen of the shop's powdered jelly.

Aubrey shakes her head when Beca pushes the open box at her. "I'm not eating that."

"You love powdered jelly," Beca replies.

"Not since I turned ten."

"It won't mess up your figure."

Aubrey rolls her eyes. "But it is going to mess up my face."

Beca fingers the surface of one of the doughnuts and puts the offending finger in her mouth.

"Aren't you eating?" Aubrey asks.

"Not my cheat day," Beca answers.

Aubrey sniggers. "Then why'd you buy them?"

"For you," Beca says. "Come on, you know you want 'em. And it's crazy good."

"How would you know?" Aubrey challenges. Beca keeps trying but the undeniable fact is, she would have to inject herself with the super soldier serum if she wants to be on the same level as Chloe and Jesse. Reducing her body fat percentange while bulking up her muscle mass can only do so much.

"That's what cheat days are for," Beca replies. "Also, you know that napkins are a thing, right?"

Aubrey looks around the shop. The cashier is leaning on the counter, eyes trained on her phone. The only other person in the shop besides her and Beca and Aubrey is another customer whose face is hidden behind a laptop, their coffee seems barely touched.

"That's a regular. Don't worry," Beca says, following Aubrey's eyes. "She mostly lives in her head so even if she looks up, she won't notice that she would be staring at a viral video star. If there is one person who hasn't seen your, uh, transformation, that would be her."

"You know her?" Aubrey asks.

"Nope," Beca says. "Never said a word to her. That's why this place is so amazing. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves. So, just kick back and eat your doughnuts. There won't be a picture in the tabloids of your sugar-covered face tomorrow."

Aubrey eyes the doughnuts. She doesn't do sweets, especially not something that is basically sugar disguised as a snack. Sure, it was the way she was raised but she also likes to think that every day, she makes a choice to live a healthy life by not consuming more sugar than she needs.

"How about this?" Beca says. "What if I eat one? Would you eat them?"

"Aww," Aubrey coos mockingly, "would you really risk your four percent body fat for me?"

"That's not why—" Beca snaps. Apparently, Aubrey has touched a nerve.

"Yeah, that's obvious," Aubrey tells her.

Beca's lips quirk on one side but under the table, Aubrey knows that her hands are in fists. "Not everyone can summon an inner monster to protect themselves."

Irritation hits Aubrey and she panics. "Fuck, Beca."

"Didn't know you feel that way."

Aubrey opens her eyes and Beca is still sitting in front of her with that stupid smug smile of hers. Nothing happened.

She sighs, partly in relief and partly in annoyance. "Can't you just hire bodyguards?"

"What's the fun in that?" Beca replies.

"Safe is not fun," Aubrey retorts.

"Not according to safe sex PSAs," Beca says, winking.

Aubrey narrows her eyes at Beca, one hand picking up a doughnut. Just before it reaches her mouth, she realizes what she is about to do. Beca has an eyebrow raised and Aubrey bites down on the doughnut, pretending it was all deliberate.

"What?" she scoffs. "I'm hungry." She licks her lips. Beca was right. It _is_ good.

Beca chuckles. Then she picks up a doughnut too. She shrugs at Aubrey.

"I'm hungry too," she says.

 

...

 

Control is an illusion. Not just because she transforms into a green monster when she gets angry but like metaphysically. You wake up this morning thinking that well, you've monumentally fucked up and the only thing you can look forward to is the fact that you cannot possibly fuck up worse than you have.

Then you do.

Aubrey blames it on her sugar overdose. It's a real thing, right? When people who don't normally consume sugar in large doses suddenly do, they become a bit unhinged and less inhibited, which leads them into bed with one of their childhood friends who, until today, have not spoken to them in years.

Beca is still asleep but Aubrey hears her ridicule, "That is only a thing with toddlers."

She keeps up with Beca's shenanigans. Each of their lives has its public facet. While Aubrey makes sure to exhibit her best self to the world, Beca doesn't care much for a good, or even a decent public image. She doesn't have to. Her father is Iron Man, not the Hulk. The damage that Iron Man brings upon this world is more controlled and a hell of a lot more fixable than any that the Hulk has done. There is not much to fear from a spoilt rich kid—and it makes for good entertainment—but a kid who could go berzerk on your children at any moment? That isn't a kid who should be in the same school as your child.

It took Aubrey years to cultivate her harmless American sweetheart image. If the teen magazines and gossip sites are to be believed, she was the antithesis of Beca Stark. Now, she has become something worse—something to be feared—and it all happened in only a day.

Her whole world unraveled so why not unravel it a little more? Choose her further undoing before someone else does it for her. That is the only semblance of control that she has anyway.

"Stark!" Aubrey huffs over the opening of 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing'. "I swear if you don't turn that off now, I—"

Beca hums along the song, shaking her head at Aubrey.

"You know I still remember your most ticklish spot," Aubrey tells her.

Beca stops humming but her eyebrow raises in skepticism. "I'm not ticklish."

"Everyone's ticklish," Aubrey says, watching the leg that has slipped out from under the blanket. Before Beca's foot can touch the floor, Aubrey leaps towards Beca. "Oh, no you don't!"

"Aubrey, no!" Beca yelps and the door to Beca's bedroom is thrown open by— the one and only Tony Stark. Aubrey pulls the blanket over her and clutches it to her chest as Beca yells, "DAD!"

Mr Stark clears his throat. "Did your mother ever give you the talk?"

Beca throws a pillow at her father. "Get out!"

"Alright, alright," Mr Stark mutters, pulling the door close, but before he completely closes it, he adds, "Nice boudoir soundtrack, kid."

Emerging from behind the bed, Beca murmurs her apology at Aubrey. "What's the point of locks if JARVIS can open every fucking door in this house?"

"At least your dad pretends to give you privacy," Aubrey tells her. She gasps. "Oh, shit. I didn't call my dad."

"With the way mine burst in just now, I think he knows."

"You think?" Aubrey asks.

"Definitely. So you can stay." Beca pauses for a moment before adding, "If you want."

"I kinda don't want to leave this room right now," Aubrey admits.

"Then you don't have to," Beca says. "I have an agreement with this deli place. I send a drone to them with a note and they send me back my order."

Aubrey sighs, shaking her head. "I think I finally understand what stupid rich means."

 

...

 

Chloe left and Aubrey did nothing to stop her. Not because she has changed her mind about how unfair it is. She even thinks that it is kind of dumb. Like she can't just buy a ticket to DC and see Chloe whenever she wants.

Also, there's this thing called the telephone, and Beca added a little something to both Aubrey's and Chloe's cellphones to make sure that the adults can't ever block their calls. Sure, they can't be in the same physical space as often as they did but this whole long distance thing was inevitable anyway; they already picked their colleges way before Aubrey's transformation.

And maybe—MAYBE—they do need a little bit of distance between them while Aubrey figures out how to manage her rage. It's all part of growing up, right? You move on to other things before you get stuck somewhere and ten years later, come your high school reunion, you're the sad one who never left—who never lived.

So she let Chloe go and waited a week before she called her best friend. They spent twenty minutes on the phone, telling each other that they are doing fine and when silence lingered and neither of them knew how to (or even wanted to) fill it, they fumbled through an awkward goodbye and half-hearted promises to talk again.

Before Aubrey knows it, she's unpacking her stuff in her new dorm room. Her phone rings and she reaches for it a little too eagerly. When she looks at the name on the screen, she feels a little disappointed. Then she remembers that it goes two ways. She hasn't called Chloe either. So, instead of throwing herself onto her newly made bed and curl up into a ball like she wants, she accepts the call.

She hears the smirk before the voice, and she smiles.

"I'm calling because I know you already miss me."

Aubrey rolls her eyes and mutters, "Sure, Stark. You tell yourself that."

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, I can't take credit for the kids of the Avengers idea. If I'm not mistaken it started with dubcliq on tumblr and sexonastick wrote two epic universes for it. I borrowed that idea and tweaked some things here and there. 
> 
> There may be a follow up. That's all I can say at the moment.


End file.
